ESP Teachers’ Perceptions of the Integration of ChatGPT in Language Education

The growth of ChatGPT as an AI-based instrument for improving EFL performance has received much attention from linguistic and cognitive perspectives. Despite its importance, ESP teachers’ perceptions of ChatGPT are still in their infancy. To this purpose, 30 language teachers across Iran were purposefully recruited to participate in this study through snowball sampling. The inclusion criterion was the implementation of ChatGPT through classroom instruction, regardless of its extent. The researcher also asked the teachers to keep a record of events related to ChatGPT and reflect on their experiences for a semester. Along with this set of data, the researcher collected another set of data through semi-interviews. The interviews were conducted in Persian over Skype and Google Meet. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results of the study show that ChatGPT saves teachers’ time, improves their efficiency, and increases the chances of engaging reticent and resistant students. However, they were concerned that dependency on ChatGPT makes students allocate less time and energy to learning a new language and threatens their creativity. The results of the study have implications for teachers, students, and policymakers.